October 2003
Released: 1998, Century Media
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Lord of the Wasteland

The mighty Strapping Young Lad is a powerhouse on this short live album. Without the obsessive perfection of a studio recording, Devin and the band sound much rawer here while still maintaining that wall of sound from the studio. They have brought along a few samples and the intros that pepper the CITY and HEAVY AS A REALLY HEAVY THING albums. Even the faster-than-humanly-possible vocals of “Oh My Fucking God” are maintained! Listen to Gene Hoglan’s brutally fast drumming on “All Hail the New Flesh” and it is proven not to be studio trickery. He really is THAT GOOD! There are 2 previously unreleased studio tracks here as well. “Japan” and “Centipede” are studio tracks that were previously available only on the Japanese releases of HEAVY AS A REALLY HEAVY THING and CITY, respectively. “Centipede” is the better of the two tracks but unless you’re a Devy/SYL completist, neither are worth writing home about. The funniest track though is “Far Beyond Metal”, a tribute to 80’s metal. Devin introduces the song by saying, “I know that a lot of you here are younger than we are but when we were 16, Iron Maiden was really cool. I had a W.A.S.P. silk wall hanging on my wall. I had a Judas Priest hat. I made a pair of fingerless gloves out of my mother’s fuzzy purple mittens. This next song is an homage to metal and the cheesy voices that come with announcing it”. Then in a falsetto shriek that would make King Diamond jealous, he announces, “FAR BEYOND METUHUHUHUHL!!”. The actual lyrics to the song itself are just gibberish that he made up on the spot but there is a quote from a GWAR song,

NO SLEEP ‘TIL BEDTIME is an obvious nod to Motorhead’s classic live album, NO SLEEP ‘TIL HAMMERSMITH. This album is a great representation of a Strapping Young Lad show. I’ve seen the band live three times myself and they just get better each time.